A new study reveals the significant epidemiological and economic burden of cancer in Greece
Cancer remains one of the greatest public health challenges globally. In 2022, an estimated 9.7 million deaths worldwide were attributed to the disease.
In Greece, cancer is the second leading cause of death, following cardiovascular disease. Alarmingly, Greece’s cancer-related mortality rate is notably higher than the EU-27 average. Specifically, Greece records 308 cancer deaths per 100,000 people, compared to the EU average of 289—marking a 6.5% higher rate.
A mathematical modeling study, presented at the 31st Hellenic Congress of Clinical Oncology (April 9–12, 2025, Athens), aimed to evaluate cancer-related mortality in Greece for the year 2022. Unlike many EU countries, Greece still lacked a national cancer registry in 2022. The researchers therefore used a published mathematical model and mortality data from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME). The findings revealed that cancer caused 34,729 deaths in Greece that year, with men accounting for the majority (59%). This translates to approximately 95 cancer deaths every single day.
The study also examined the impact of cancer in terms of life years lost—meaning the years a person would have lived if they had not died from cancer. In 2022, Greece lost an estimated 647,372 life years to cancer. Of these, 60% were attributed to men and 40% to women.
The three types of cancer with the highest burden in terms of life years lost were:
Lung cancer: 8,400 deaths, 171,000 life years lost
Colorectal cancer: 3,900 deaths, 64,000 life years lost
Breast cancer: 2,940 deaths, 56,000 life years lost
For men, the cancers with the greatest impact were lung, colorectal, and prostate cancer. For women, it was breast, lung, and colorectal cancer. On average, premature cancer-related death in Greece resulted in the loss of nearly 19 years of life per person.
The study also highlighted the impact on productive years—those before retirement—estimating that cancer deaths led to nearly 40,000 years of lost productivity, with men representing 56.5% of these losses. The economic cost of premature cancer-related mortality in Greece is estimated at €743 million.
However, this figure excludes the cost of managing cancer itself, which is estimated at an additional €1.2 billion. Combined, the total economic burden of cancer represents approximately 0.8% of Greece’s GDP, according to lead researcher Elias Gountas, Value & Patient Access Manager at MSD Greece and a postdoctoral researcher at the Medical School of Cyprus.
Lung cancer alone was associated with the highest indirect cost due to early death, estimated at around €186 million.
The study concludes that a significant portion of this epidemiological and economic burden could be prevented through targeted interventions, such as smoking cessation, reducing obesity, HPV vaccination, early screening, and timely diagnosis and treatment.
Researchers emphasize that establishing a National Cancer Registry in Greece would provide clearer insights into cancer’s true impact and support the development of more effective public health policies in the long term.
